Become a savvy stock investor

Investing is hard work. The annual reports of companies run into hundreds of pages, rows and rows of numbers are thrown at you, and management speak is often gobbledygook. The Value Research website has made your life simpler by providing you with important analytical data in an easy-to-use form. What's more, we can confidently say that the Value Research website has certain features which you won't find anywhere else. Here are ten such features that not only make your life easy but also make your analysis super effective.

Market MonitorHow has the market performed? The Sensex? The Nifty? The Bank Nifty? Indices help you evaluate the stocks you own or wish to own, and knowing their performance is important. We have the performance of indices across sectors and market caps over periods ranging from one day to ten years.

How to get there: Scroll down to the bottom of the home page to 'Index Returns' section, and you'll bump right into it.

Essential checks
The 'Essential Checks' feature tells you the most important things that you need to check before buying a stock.

The feature comprises four parameters: the Altman Z-Score, the Piotroski F-Score, the Modified C-Score and valuations. The Z-Score measures solvency. The F-Score measures recent performance. And the C-Score measures the likelihood of a company cooking its books. The details of these metrics can be had by clicking on their names.

The following valuation parameters are available: minimum, maximum, median and current price-to-earnings and price-to-book multiples over five years; earnings yield; and price-to-earnings-growth ratio (PEG).

How to get there: Type the name of the stock in the search bar. The stock page that will appear has 'Essential Checks' on the right side.

Stock SelectorInterested in automobile stocks? Or only small companies? How about the constituents of the Nifty PSU Index? Our Stock Selector tool lets you find stocks by indices, market capitalisation, sectors and industries, and even alphabet. You get a plethora of information on stocks, such as returns, valuations, financials, etc.

How to get there

Go to the bottom of the home page where index returns are reported in green, yellow and red. Choose any index on the right-hand side.

Click on 'Define Your Stock Universe' on the top right-hand corner. Choose the relevant option.

Click on 'Update Stock List'. Destination reached.

Insider trades
A great many people believe that the stock market is a giant conspiracy, controlled by 'people in the know.' Whether or not this is true, you can certainly find out what 'people in the know' are doing with your company by looking at insider trades. These include the transactions of senior management - people involved in the day-to-day running of the company. What they do with their holdings matters.

How to get there: Scroll down the stock page of the company you are analysing and you'll bump right into it.

Shareholding patternWho are your fellow shareholders? Are they foreign or are they domestic? How much do the promoters own? And how has ownership moved between them? All of these questions are answered in the shareholding-pattern history. It is a useful indicator in your analysis - a promoter paring down his holdings may be a cause for concern.

How to get there: Select the 'Shareholding Pattern' tab on the stock page of the company you are analysing. Say 'Open Sesame'.

Fund-manager movesHDFC AMC owned nearly 5 per cent of State Bank of Bikaner before its merger with SBI was confirmed by the Union cabinet. The stock shot up nearly 20 per cent in a day. With their IIM degrees, tenth-floor offices and fancy computers, it is worth knowing what fund managers are up to. Our 'Fund houses invested in the stock' section tells you precisely what fund managers are doing.

How to get there: Scroll down the stock page of the company you are analysing and you'll bump right into it.

Total returnsStocks have an eventful life. They go through splits, bonus issues, dividends, buybacks, mergers and a host of other corporate actions which prevent you from observing your true return from holding them. We have a cure for this rather exasperating phenomenon. We give you the 'total return' from the stock after adjusting for relevant corporate actions.

How to get there

Click on 'My Portfolio' at the top of your home page. You'll be taken to the portfolio 'Snapshot' tab.

Capital gains
Long term capital gains tax was introduced in the current budget. Many of you may be worried about your tax liability on the sale of stocks. When do you have to pay LTCG tax? Under what circumstance do you not have to pay this tax? You have the answers at the click of a button

Portfolio analytics
How much should you put into each stock? Our 'Analysis' tab helps you answer this with ease. It tells your asset allocation: how much of your portfolio is in equity and how much in debt. It also tells you your allocation between big companies and the nimbler, but possibly riskier, mid and small caps. Similarly, it tells you what kind of bonds your debt funds own. The Analysis tab also gives you the sector allocation of your stocks so that you can figure out whether you are overexposed or underexposed to a sector.

How to get there

Click on 'My Portfolio' at the top of your home page. Your portfolio page will open.

Upload your transactionsGot a portfolio of stocks and funds already? If you don't wish to type a mass of information to track your portfolio online, all you need to do is use the upload feature at Value Research Online. You can download your fund reports from CAMS or Karvy using the 'detailed transaction statement' option and upload them straight to your Value Research portfolio. Likewise, you can get stock-transaction statements from your broker. You can also create an Excel file in the specified format to upload your stock and fund transactions.

How to get there

Click on 'My portfolio' at the top of your home page. Your portfolio page will open.

Click on 'Add Investments' drop-down menu on the top right-hand corner of the page. Click on the Excel or PDF icon to upload the transactions. Follow the instructions given on the page.